Abstract:
A novel Sm
3+-SrTiO
3/TiO
2 composite nanofibers were synthesized by one-step hydrothermal technique. By this way, TiO
2 nanofibers could serve as the both substrate and reactant. Moreover, not only doping of Sm
3+ into SrTiO
3 but also in-situ growth of SrTiO
3 on skeleton of TiO
2 could be simultaneously satisfied. The as-synthesized Sm
3+-SrTiO
3/TiO
2 composite nanofibers were characterized by XRD, XPS, FESEM and HRTEM. The photocatalytic activity was evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B and p-chloro phenol. The results show that rare earth Sm
3+ ions are doped into the SrTiO
3 lattice and replace Sr
2+ in SrTiO
3, forming an impurity level in forbidden band. The range of the light absorption by SrTiO
3 is enlarged. Meanwhile, the defects are introduced into SrTiO
3 lattice, acting as trapping cites of photogenerated electrons and hence reducing the recombination of charge carrier. The additionally, the heterojunction between SrTiO
3 and TiO
2 is beneficial for the electronic-hole separation. With these regards, Sm
3+ doped SrTiO
3/TiO
2 composite nanofibers exhibit highly photocatalytic activity under visible light.